Message to Vodicka

First and foremost, I would like to say to Mr. Vodicka: Shame on you! As an SMU alumnus, it is your duty to support SMU. Your actions regarding University Gardens are clearly a selfish act to gain money. Using your law degree for personal gains is an insult to all SMU students in the past and presently.

To summarize the issue at hand, Mr. Vodicka is suing SMU to prevent the university from demolishing University Gardens by attempting to prove that the university obtained the property illegally. At the present time, Mr. Vodicka has been allowed to have engineers inspect the units and determine the present state.

The site in question is a hot topic because it is one of the possible sites for the Bush Presidential Library. SMU has not officially released any plans regarding the site, but many options are possible, such as sophomore housing or intramural fields, along with a possible library bid site.

Previously, SMU hired an outside consultant, who determined that the site needs $12.4 million dollars of renovations. I am sorry to inform you of this vital point, but Mr. Vodicka, a complex does not fall into disrepair in a manner of months or even years. The condominiums are old and have needed renovations since 1992. Why wasn’t something done 17 years ago, Mr. Vodicka, when you first invested in the properties to keep the buildings up to code?

SMU has been working very hard throughout the last decade to increase the quality of education that it provides. Starting with the Capital Campaign, the university has striven to provide top-notch faculty and facilities for its students.

Although clearly an expansion effort, the buying of University Gardens is an attempt to provide better facilities for the university and not as Mr. Vodicka claims: to “kick old people out of their homes.”

I hope that one man’s selfish actions do not hinder SMU’s bid for the presidential library. The building of a presidential library would only build the prestige of the university and increase the opportunities for students and the citizens of Dallas.

Although SMU has been the frontrunner in the bid for the Bush Library, it does not guarantee selection. Whether or not SMU receives the library, the land that University Gardens is located on will benefit the university. SMU was interested in the land long before planning for a presidential library bid started and it will continued to be interested in the land for the betterment of the university.

Mr. Vodicka has called SMU to “pony up” its official bid for the library. Why, Mr. Vodicka, does the library have anything to do with your suit? Why are the locations of the other schools’ bids your problem?

SMU needs the land. Maybe it will use it for the library, maybe it won’t. What it uses it for should not be the issue.

I challenge you, Mr. Vodicka, to “pony up” and support SMU. Since you claim to not need the money, donate your condominiums to SMU to help support the development of an outstanding school that is educating the future leaders of our country.

Tamara Carrell is a junior biological sciences major. She may be contacted at [email protected].